St. Frances Academy, the oldest black Catholic high school in the United States, stands in the middle of one of the poorest neighborhoods of East Baltimore -- in the shadow of the gothic horror that is the Maryland Penitentiary.
This is an institution that has always remained true to its mission -- spiritually and physically.
A black woman founded the school in 1828 to educate the children of escaped slaves, electing always to work in the community that needed her most.
And St. Frances Academy remains there still -- in a 121-year-old building-- ministering, educating, nurturing the children of the poor and disadvantaged.
Today, close to 90 percent of its graduates go on to college. Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, the school's founder, has been nominated for sainthood.
But serving the poor reaps spiritual, not financial rewards.
And so, on Monday, there will be a major fund-raising dinner on the academy's behalf. The money raised will go toward scholarships for the most needy students and for everyday operating expenses.
And now that I have identified the cause, I will reveal that the keynote speaker at this dinner will be Harry H. Schwarz, the South African ambassador to the United States.
Yes, the South African ambassador to the United States -- the apartheid regime's highest-ranking official on these shores; the representative of the one country in all the world that has been most at war with human decency and justice, the one country in all the world whose policies seem most at odds with all of the things that Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange stood for.
Yet Harry H. Schwarz, who assumed his post here last month, is by all accounts a unique individual with a peculiar background for a South African ambassador and those peculiarities make his appearance here on St. Frances' behalf oddly appropriate.
Schwarz is a Jewish man of German descent who has spent his entire political career campaigning against apartheid. He was a member of the defense team for African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela. He is the first anti-apartheid activist in South Africa ever elevated to senior ambassadorial status.
And, in a speech before the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., last month, Schwarz articulated a vision that seemed as appropriate for communities like East Baltimore as for Soweto, South Africa.
